Want to Join The Startup Garage For FREE at Launch Festival in San Francisco?

The Launch Festival in San Francisco is March 2-4th 2016.

The Event promises to be the greatest startup conference in the world, with 15,000 attendees, 4 stages, and 250 top notch speakers.

All with the mission to help founders build, scale, and secure funding.

“This whole festival is a celebration of entrepreneurship,” said angel investor Jason Calacanis, who has organized Launch Festival events for eight years now.

The Startup Garage loves what Launch Festival is doing and have heard countless success stories of previous attendees. “This is very good for us start-ups to meet both potential customers, potential partners and potential investors. And it’s also getting the media exposure, being on stage,” said Dr. Alexander Borve, co-founder and CEO of First Derm

We excited to offer you our friends and founders FREE passes to the event, as a way to support and inspire innovation. Simple Go to launchfestival.com/thestartupgarage to claim your free pass.

Ready to not just attend but also take the stage?
If you’d like to debut your Startup Idea on stage in front of their 15,000 founders, entrepreneurs, investors, and tech enthusiasts?
Go to launchfestival.com/competition to apply for the LAUNCH competition.

The winner receives a $200k investment from Jason Calacanis and a slot in the LAUNCH Incubator.

They will also be holding the LAUNCH Hackathon (with 15K hackers and $1M+ in prizes) on February 26-28. You can apply HERE. 250 teams of four will spend 48 hours creating a company, with the top seven making it to the main stage of the LAUNCH Festival on Friday where they will be given two minutes to show their creations before a grilling from our judges!

San Francisco, the city by the bay, is an entrepreneurial hotspot, this monumental 3 day event is sure to put some stretch marks on your brain and business.

All ideas at any stage are welcome, this challenge is designed to bring your idea to life!
Judges are looking for the biggest idea with the best-defined roadmap to success.

The Top 5 idea will be notified on December 14th and selected to pitch in the finals on December 15th at 5pm PST.

5 questions to answer when entering to optimize your pitch are:

How big of a problem does the product solve?
How well does the product solve the problem?
How well do the docs, if any, support the idea?
How has collaboration helped the idea?
Do the goals and tasks adequately outline a roadmap to success?

Remember to structure your pitch in a colorful story with a beginning, middle, and end.
Let your personality shine through without being too salesy, vague, or abstract.

Ideator was created to foster global innovation and entrepreneurship, while also making them easier.The Startup Garage Team, know’s it’s ideas like yours that continue to shift the landscape of business innovation.

We look forward to hearing your ideas and helping launch them to the world!

As Twitter shares plunge 13% and user growth & revenue pale in comparison to other social networks.

Founded in 2006 by by turning “moments of panic into moments of inspiration”
Twitter is no stranger to the art of the pivot and is taking fast deliberate actionable steps to ensure a successful future.

5 Key Business Lessons To Learn From Twitter

1. Embrace change.

“Expect the unexpected. And whenever possible, be the unexpected.”

Jack Dorsey knows when it’s time to hold to true to traditional strategy, and when it’s time to evolve. Twitter doesn’t fear change it leverages it as a discovery tool. Actively re-evaluating what’s working, what may have been overlooked, and to re-imagine what’s possible.

2. Value Consumer Habits.

A product only as valuable as the the User Experience. Over 300 million people use Twitter on a monthly basis, however over a billion people have tried Twitter and decided it’s not for them.
Recognizing there’s the potential to appeal to an additional 700million people, Twitter continues to simplify the platform to enhance the user experiences.

Twitter closely studies their customers’ broader behaviors around the use of their products and services.

Here are examples of careful listening and watching:

More Visual Pizzaz – Twitter Feed Looks More Like Your Facebook Feed

While you were away feature– Recap of tweets you may have missed that have high user engagement

Moments– lets users quickly find the best of what’s happening on Twitter at any given time.

Hearts replaces Stars– “The heart is a universal symbol that resonates across languages, cultures, and time zones. It is more expressive, enabling you to convey a range of emotions and easily connect with people. And in our tests, we found that people loved it.”

3. Leverage Multiple Product Streams.

Twitter doesn’t rely on one product stream, like most successful Startups, their business model includes and integrates a variety of products/platforms. Apps like Vine and Periscope are social media moguls individually, however their integration with in Twitter is the startup “Secret Sauce” and perhaps the most crucial ingredient to growth.

4. Never Stop Focusing on Funding.

1.16 Billion dollars in 8 funding rounds later Twitter, knows that seeking and raising capital is a constant battle. There’s not a mysterious funding plateau a startup reaches where investors and investments no longer matter, even for Unicorns.

There’s always a song and dance for funding, with investors scrupulously looking for the highest potential return on investment, with little risk.

5. Choose a CEO that is both a leader and a visionary.

Twitter announced that it was bringing back its co-founder, Jack Dorsey, as permanent CEO. Jack is a lead product visionary at the core, and aims for his products to help society work more efficiently and humanely.

“My role as an observer and as a technologist is to show everything that’s happening in the world in real time and get us to that data immediately, so we can change our lives even faster, with better knowledge.”

People invest in people, a good leader is someone who guides people and empowers it’s members to make big decisions. If I have to make a decision,” Jack says, “we have an organizational failure.”

Whether or not the 5 business lessons above will save Twitter, only time will tell.
It’s a critical time in the history for one of the most mainstream media platforms of our time.

Twitter was born out of a Pivot in 2006 …will it Thrive on a Pivot in 2015?

Tech Focused ‘Super Schools’ to Rethink High School Education in the U.S.

XQ: The Super School Project infused with $50Million Dollars of Steve Job’s fortune intends to redefine traditional U.S. high school education.

The team based competition encourages applicants to reimagine and modernize public education.“To create the future, we must first imagine it.”

The project intends to build and support 5-10 Super Schools to better fit an innovative-focused society, levering critical thinking and collaboration within the largely unchanged U.S. institution.

The Startup Garage Team spoke with 4 innovative educational leaders to share their keen insights and perspective regarding the XQ Project, and the future of entrepreneurship.

David Fu: An education community builder and the head of 4.0 Schools in NYC, an education incubator for early stage entrepreneurs launching innovative companies, nonprofits and schools.

Where does your passion education innovation draw from?

My passion for education innovation draws from two areas: first, this is a common refrain, but I am a first generation immigrant and it is clear to me how much I have benefited from opportunities I was afforded growing up in the U.S. as compared to in China. I believe firmly that we cannot know everyone’s potential without affording them similar opportunities, and I believe education is one of the best ways to do so. Second, I believe education is far from that ideal state, and that we must find innovative ideas that can help bridge from the current state of the world.

What you’re overall perspective of the XQ: The Super School Project?

I am excited because I think this project draws attention and brings funding to an area in need of innovation, in education the current school model (and high school model, in particular). I like the parallel between the overall process (team, discover, design, develop) and lean startup or design thinking; I also love the focus on users (students in the 21st century) in the discover phase and the focus on student agency & engagement in the design phase. I think this is a key mindset shift that still needs to take place in education across the country: how might we enable students to own their own learning? (and how do we then measure that learning; I do not believe standardized testing helps achieve this goal)

Two potential concerns:
First, are they partnering with local organizations to build the pipeline of talent and then screen it? The large marketing campaign and names (and roadshow / local events) should surface a lot of amazing people and ideas, but how do they plan to sift through them all and identify both great ideas and the right people to bring them to life (and right location with the right environment to do so)? There is some concern in the press around these ideas / process being too local, but I’m worried it’s not local enough.

Second, I’ve seen the value in making small bets and testing core components of a school model before opening the doors to the school (tiny schools) — I’m worried that this is potentially a large bet made too early. I hope that they plan to incorporate testing and many cycles of discovery, design, development to iterate on and launch truly innovative high school models.

How do you feel high school students today could be better prepared for Entrepreneurship?

I feel that one big challenge in school is that there is no culture of risk-taking and failure (either for students or teachers). There is such an emphasis on results (academic, grades, getting to college; test scores and value add) and concepts like leadership and service, but not enough emphasis on valuing the process itself.

For example, let’s say a project was to build a rube goldberg machine to put bread in a toaster and set it to to toast the bread with the constraints being a certain time frame and certain materials.

If a failure to accomplish this goal by your rube goldberg machine results in a low grade automatically, then the incentives are to take as few risks as possible and make sure that what you do works. Instead, grading based on the process and reflection on what students learned in project-based learning would enable this shift.

What advise would you give to give to a high school student interested in becoming a Startup founder?

First, most technology startup founders that are successful either have deep technical expertise – coding, web/app/software development, engineering OR deep industry experience / passion — understand the problems faced by consumers or businesses in a particular industry like education, healthcare, etc. Second, find something you are really passionate about, and become a problem hunter to understand the challenges people face in that area/field/industry — it takes passion for you to stick to it through the tough times you will face as an entrepreneur, and it takes a deep understanding of a problem first to come up with a great solution.

Regina Bernal: Entrepreneurship and Experiential Learning Coordinator a the University of San Diego, empowering entrepreneurs to turn their venture ideas into a reality.

Are you familiar with the XQ: The Super School Project? What is your overall perspective of the concept?

I am extremely impressed with this concept, I would have loved be part of a more more innovative high school experience

How do you feel high school students today could be better prepared for college?

High School students need to “Get out of the Building” learn more in the world, not just in the classroom. There is so much learning that comes from interactions, experiences, and situations. The more that high school teachers are able to tie in real world situations to their curriculum the better prepared students will be when they come to college. There is not a perfect handbook to help guide your way through college, but knowing how to tackle difficult situations in creatives and innovative ways would be a game changer for a future college student.

What are 3 elements of the USD entrepreneurship program do you feel could be beneficial to high school education?

Know your pitch! Learn how to effectively communicate your ideas, and get the buy-ins from those around you. At USD we are heavily focused on the “pitch”. A great idea can be lost in the inability to effectively communicate it, Get out there and actually test your ideas! You may think you have the best ideas in the world, but unless other people agree and get excited about it then you eventually hit a wall Grow your network! Even at a High School level, you need to think about those around you and how they can help build on your ideas.

Entrepreneurship and life is about collaboration, knowing great people that you can reach out will be an advantage in anything that you decide to do.

What advise would you give to give to a high school student interested in becoming a Startup founder?

It is never too late to start! There are no rules to being an entrepreneur and everyone has a different path. If you have the slightest inspiration or inclination to be a Founder get out there and start testing your idea. Do not be too in love with your original idea and be flexible to change

Shana Tessenholtz: Assistant Principal of English/ELL for a large comprehensive high school in Queens NY grades 9-12.

Are you familiar with the XQ: The Super School Project? What is your overall perspective of the concept?

Not familiar. I think I saw a sign for it at a bus stop but don’t really know what it is.

How do you feel high school students needs today differ from when you were a high school student?

The world is a very different place from when we were high school students. Teachers need to infuse more technology into their classrooms as students use technology every day of their lives. Also, the attention span of students today is much shorter. Teachers constantly need to mix things up to keep students interested. There is also much less accountability for students then there was when we went to school. If students are not doing their work, parents say “you are not challenging my kids, you don’t like my kid….” Also, deadlines are often guidelines instead of hard and fast due dates.

What are 3 elements you would implement to better prepare students for college, jobs, and life after high school?

To prepare students for life after high school: more internships, students MUST learn another language (Chinese is a good pick – not just Spanish or French anymore), financial awareness (students have no concepts of how much money is costs to go to College and to live in the real world)

What advise would you give to give to a high school student interested in becoming a Tech Startup Founder?

There are a lot of great internships and programs available for students who are interested in this field. I think the #1 piece of advice would be to get an internship and immerse themselves in the field. Talk to people who are already in the field and doing what they want to do and find out what it takes. How much money will they need? Business plan? Who will they talk to when their product is complete? Having an idea is simply not enough anymore in this competitive market.

Deborah Chang: Education Entrepreneur and Community Organizer, building scaleable solutions that take down systemic barriers to education innovation.

Are you familiar with the XQ: The Super School Project?What is your overall perspective of the concept?

In this era of high-stakes end of the year tests being used to label schools and evaluate teachers, educators, particularly those teaching the most disadvantaged students, are feeling the pressure to teach in ways that may not encourage student creativity, empowerment, and collaboration. In addition, teaching that is projects-based, hands-on, real-world is hard. We need to provide real support as a nation in the form of training, community building, and finances in order to truly transform education.

What XQ: The Super School Project does is provide the political cover and resources necessary for educators to create schools that truly meet the needs of their particular community of students. Perhaps even more importantly, it is catalyzing conversations around the country on what education really needs to look like, sound like, and feel like In a connected world. It is these ongoing conversations leading to real action by committed teams of people that will ultimately lead to positive collective impact for our nation’s children.

How do you feel high school students today could be better prepared for Entrepreneurship?

65% of our students will be working in jobs that have not been created yet (Source: US Labor Report). So, let’s not pretend to know what kind of world our students will inherit. Instead, let’s teach our students to create the world that they want to live in.

What advise would you give to give to a high school student interested in becoming a Startup founder?

Learn how to learn. Learn obsessively. Learn quickly. As you’re figuring out your life’s purpose, don’t sit in a room and stress. Just throw yourself into projects over and over again to learn more about yourself while building skills that will make you invaluable. Quit projects if you need to in order to have the freedom to discover what you truly love, what you’re good at, what the world needs, and what’s financially sustainable. And, have the courage to quit because you trust in your ability to learn, no matter what life throws at you.

Finally, commit. As long as you commit to uncovering that purpose you’ll forever
live your life by, you’ll find it, and when you do, even if it looks different from anything else that has ever been done before, your life will have completely changed for the better.

Ready to #RethinkHighschool? Applications are being accepted until November 15th Enter Today here> Project XQ

The esteemed ranking is based on criteria included the percentage of graduates who created their own company, the percentage of companies still operating at the end of 2014, whether it was their main source of income and how the school and the alumni network helped set things up.

The event was purposefully created to evolve and sustain a community of aspiring as well as seasoned entrepreneurs/business owners. Ultimately, bringing together students, alumni, investors and entrepreneurs for an interactive evening of coaching and collaboration.

3. Anyone can benefit from attending the conference.
“The USD Legacy Entrepreneurship Conference is one of our biggest events at USD for Entrepreneurs.It is incredible opportunity for anyone who has ever had an inspiration to be an entrepreneur to get the “real” behind the scenes story from some of San Diego’s top Entrepreneurs.

Participants will network with people who have done it before and can share their stories of “If I started my venture today, how would I do it differently” and “What I would tell my 21 year old self”. Making mistakes as an entrepreneur can be very expensive, and an event like ULEC gives people the opportunity to ask questions, get feedback, and gathered some lessons learned from top entrepreneurs.

It is also a great opportunity to meet our current innovative students and the thriving USD startup community. social entrepreneurs who are changing the world and want to share their stories will also be on the panels adding a “changemaker” perspective” Regina Bernal, Entrepreneurship and Experiential Learning

4. There is no cost to attend. It’s a completely FREE event, although space is limited.

*HINT sign up early to reserve your seat.*
When was the last time you got to network in a beautiful setting with highly successful individuals ready and willing to share with you their knowledge and insights at no cost?

5. Conference panelist include a blend of unique entrepreneurs, each with their own story and journey to share.

6. At the conclusion of the event you’ll leave with actionable deliverable information and results in order to turn big ideas into reality.

You’ll leave with 3.5 hours of solid startup advice, tried and tested by successful entrepreneurs. Plus you’ll have a newfound community of entrepreneurs you can easily connect with online and offline #USDENTREPRENEUR for further discussions.

Now that you’ve decided to join us be sure to say hello to The Startup Garage Team!

Furry Innovation: Pets Are Startup Businesses New Best Friends

It’s no denying it, we love our pets and we’re willing to spend countless amounts of money in order to enhance their health, happiness, and even appearance.

According to the American Pet Products Association an estimated $58.5 billion was spent on pets in 2014. With nearly $330 million on pet costumes for Halloween alone.

From OnDemand Pet Adoptions to “Furspray” the newest way to decorate your pet for special occasions, Pet Startups combine the love of animals with a high-growth business opportunity. However, along with business opportunities comes fierce competition.

Currently listed on Angel List, there are 490 Pet Startups with an average valuation of $3.7 million across a pool 1,012 Investors. Leading the pack and setting the investment stage are DogVacay and Bark&Co.

DogVacay offers an on demand approach to petsitting near home, having securing 4 healthy funding infusions since 2012. Including: $1 million dollar seed round in May 2012, $6 million Series A round in Nov. 2012, $15 million dollar Series B round in Oct. 2013, and $25 million in Oct 2014.

Bark & Co. leveraged an untapped business model of a monthly subscription box of dog goodies with BarkBox and continued to expand across several other major properties:

Also securing a steady funding infusion including: $25,000 in Jan 2012, $1.7million in July 2012, $5million Series A round in April 2013, and $15million Series B Round in July 2014.

Funding is so red hot for Pets Startups, if the U.S. pet products industry collectively was a Fortune 500 company, it would be bigger than Google, Dell, UPS, or Coca-Cola.

Meanwhile, like any high-growth industry, it’s attracting a new breed of startup entrepreneurs with furry ambitions.

Here are a few “underdogs” that captured our attention here at The Startup Up Garage.

XcDogs: Based out of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and it connects people who travel with their pets to locals willing to pet-sit short-term who is actively seeking funding at this time.

CleverPet: a local San Diego Startup which with a “Smart” pet gadget that educates and interacts with your animal companion in your absence. CleverPet had a successfully funded Kickstarter campaign of $180,623 and appears to have a variety of undisclosed funding in Sept 2015.

Urban Leash: offers on demand dog walking and cat-sitting services from anywhere at anytime, who a secured a $99,500 seed round in Nov 2014.

AllPaws is OkCupid for Finding Pets to Adopt, Swiping left and right and sifting through profiles is a regular practice for people looking for love nowadays.

Through the website and app AllPaws, the same approach is being used for those looking for a four-legged soulmate. AllPaws raised $1 million in capital in April 2013.

Will the Pet Startups above disrupt the pet industry as we know it?
Only time will tell, if they’re barking up the right tree.

On Saturday Sept 19th, Hera Venture Summit unveils a new face of Women in Tech Events

Below are 7 undeniable reason YOU’ll want to attend!

1. The Hera Venture Summit offers the ultimate platform for female founders and funders to discuss and collaborate in launching, growing and sustaining profitable businesses.

2. There’s not just 1 but 2 Keynote Speakers, excited to share their experience and expertise.

Elissa Shevinsky, a Startup CEO and Co-Founder at JeKuDo Privacy Company, a veteran coder, and editor of ‘Lean Out’ which encourages women to create their own culture in Tech Startups.

Consuelo Valverde, an Entrepreneur turned VC at SV LATAM Fund. At the age of 20, she founded one of the first PC manufacturing companies in Mexico and later on an IT learning institute.

3. Beautiful environments fuel inspiration. The event takes place at the University of San Diego an architectural dream, named by Travel+Leisure magazine one of the most beautiful college campuses in the United States.

4. One-day intensive and interactive event. Often times events are spread across a weekend, 3 days, or even week long. The Hera Venture Summit takes Startup growth hacking to a new level, fully emerging everyone into the conversation in an action packed 10 hour event.

5. The theme of the event centers around “Building Bridges” both locally, binational, and globally. Holding course to the idea that through each other’s diversity comes expansion, both personally and professionally.

6. 7 Panels of unique content, covering everything from topics of gender investing and female founder ROI to how to become a female angel investor.

*Tyler Jensen founder ofThe Startup Garage will be will be part of the panel

The White House Challenges Inequity In Startup Tech

On Tuesday August 4, 2015 President Obama hosted the first-ever White House Demo Day.

The Demo Day was a chance for 90 entrepreneurs from over 30 diverse companies across the country to share their entrepreneurial journey.

Conversations centered around empowering underrepresented entrepreneurs and encouraging venture capital firms and Tech Giants to invest women and minority groups. As it currently stands The White House says about 3 percent of U.S. startups backed by venture capital are led by women, and about 1 percent are headed by African-Americans.

“We’ve got to make sure that everybody is getting a fair shot— the next Steve Jobs might be named Stephanie or Esteban,” Obama said. “We’ve got to unleash the full potential of every American— not leave more than half the team on the bench.”

The event opened the doors for communication, while inspiring diversity in America’s startup culture and economy. It also included strong calls to action to both the public and private sectors.

On the public side of things, the administration has been working with over 40 venture capital firms (including but not limited to A16Z, Intel Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, and Scale Venture Partners) that collectively have more than $100 billion under management, and are committing to new hiring practices that advance opportunities for minorities.

“You actually can make better-informed and more profitable investment decisions with a diverse team,” he said. “This isn’t about social justice alone. This is about social justice and making more money.” said said Ray Leach, chief executive of JumpStart

Tech giants like Google, Amazon and Facebook also pledged to foster inclusion in the tech space, announcing new plans to boost hiring of women and minorities, as well as additional innovative approaches.

For example; Google announced it will be hosting it’s first ever Women’s Demo Day later this year. The event will feature women-led startups from around the country pitching to a group of judges at the Googleplex. Meanwhile, IBM is committing to expanding its partnership with Girls Who Code to empower the next generation of female software developers.

The United States has always been a melting pot of opportunity, attracting and highlighting diverse talent and entrepreneurial skill-sets. In the 21st century a successful “marriage” between the U.S. government, Startup tech industries , VC firms, and entrepreneurs has the power to bring the American Dream to life in ways previously unprecedented.

A Venture Capital Database with detailed research reports, that helps track the world’s most promising private companies, their investors, acquires and the industries they compete. Helping entrepreneurs make smarter, faster, wiser business decisions.

The founder of @StartupGrind (another resource to take notice of) As he grinds and hustles through the Startup community. *SideNote: He recently turned up his Instagram game introducing StartupGrinder, for a “behind the scenes” perspective.

Well you guessed it… Quotes that only an entrepreneur would love & other innovative wisdom to ponder. *Side Note at the time of writing this article @Startupquote has been on Twitter hiatus since May 18th 2014. Technically bouncing them off our list, but still worth referencing in times of need.

The Importance of Bookkeeping for a Startup Business

Bookkeeping, by definition, is the process of recording a company’s financial transactions and history.

It is the first step in the broader accounting process which involves reporting and analyzing data to make business decisions.

Many entrepreneurs find that they are wearing too many hats as it is and they just
don’t have time to dedicate towards proper bookkeeping.

However, bookkeeping is crucial for any startup for several reasons:First and foremost, it helps companies make better financial and management decisions. Proper bookkeeping can help you understanding the key financial benchmarks that determine whether your company is operating successfully or not. Bookkeeping also helps with managing cash flow and answering questions such as: who owes you money, who do you owe money to, when should you send an invoice, when are your bills due, etc.

Second, consistent bookkeeping will help minimize the headaches when it comes to preparing your annual taxes. If you can provide your accountant with a well maintained balance sheet, cash flow statement, and profit and loss statement he/she will be able to dedicate their time towards making sound tax decisions rather than fixing problems with the financial statements.

Third, sound books will help you with planning your business’ next steps. By understanding key benchmarks such as cost to acquire a new customer and cost of goods sold you can begin to make educated decision about the best way to grow your business.

Fourth, investors require solid books. The frequency of which you report financial records will be determined by you and your investors. In any case, the more automated and uniform your financial reporting systems are for reporting crucial financial information the happier your investors will be. It will show to them that you understand your cash flow needs and the business key performing indicators that will allow the business to scale.

Now that you are on-board with the important of bookkeeping for a startup, let’s look at 10 of the most common types of bookkeeping accounts for a startup or any business for that matter:

Cash:

This is your most basic account and it tells you exactly how much cash you have in your
bank. Many businesses will monitor their cash account by separating cash receipts and cash
disbursements.

Accounts Receivable:

Not all companies will have accounts receivables. Receivables represent
money that is due from customers and is therefore only applicable to companies that sell
products or services prior to collecting payment or a portion of the payment upon the time of
sale. Tracking receivables will help you understand cash flow and keeping a detailed list of your various receivable accounts will help you stay on top of billing and invoices.

Sales:

The sales account is closely tied to cash and accounts payable but provides slightly
different insight. Sales is where you track anticipated incoming revenues from what you sell.
Tracking sales accurately will help you understand whether your business is on track to meet
predetermined metrics and benchmarks.

Accounts Payable:

Similar to accounts receivable, accounts payable represent money that you
owe to your suppliers and vendors for products and services that you did not pay for entirely
upfront. Tracking your payables will help you with managing cash flow, ensuring that you don’t
pay your bills twice, and may even make you eligible for discounts if you are able to pay early.

Inventory:

While inventory is not equivalent to cash or accounts payable it is certainly an asset on your balance sheet that needs to be carefully accounted for and tracked. Properly managing your inventory will help with understanding cash flow and anticipated production runs.

Loans Payable:

You loans payable account tracks the amount of capital that you’ve borrowed, how much you still owe, and how much is due in the next billing cycle.

Purchases or Cost of Goods Sold:

This account helps you understand the cost of delivering your product and service and when subtracted from your Sales account you end up with gross profit.

Payroll:

Payroll is the biggest expense for most businesses and should be monitored closely. Maintaining an accurate payroll account will pay dividends when it comes to tax and
government reporting requirements not to mention understanding your personnel expenses.

Retained Earnings:

Retained earnings are simply profits that are not paid out to owners or shareholders. Retained earnings are cumulative, or a running total, and demonstrate the profits that are reinvested back into the business.

Owner’s Equity:

This account simply tracks the capital investment that the owners’ have put into the business. This account is particularly pertinent if there are multiple owners who have put in disparate amounts of capital.

We believe entrepreneurs are changing the world. Our team is dedicated to supporting you with the resources for success.

Our Work

Fit4Mom

The Startup Garage dialed in the Fit4Mom accounting team. We set up their inventory management, analyzed their revenue streams and made recommendations to increase their profitability and revenue. We were first hired to build their business plan and financial model, and have continued with them through our CFO services.

Powur

TSG created revenue models, supported in their commission structure, developed use of funds, and cap table management. Our team began by developing all of their investor documents and supported them through three rounds of capital raising. We are currently working with them on their fourth round of capital raising.

Kids Choose Charity

The Startup Garage helped Kids Choose Charity get clear on their target market and what their product actually was. We also connected them with community resources. KCC is just one non-profit organisations out of a dozen that TSG has worked with over the years.

Women Network

MintShow

The Startup Garage team was able to help MintShow get organized around their vision and educate them on the capital raising process. We also constructed their investor deck. Within the past two years we’ve continued to work with them on a number of their subsidiary companies.

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We believe entrepreneurs are changing the world. Our team is dedicated to supporting you with the resources for success.

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We believe entrepreneurs are changing the world. Our team is dedicated to supporting you with the resources for success.

Sheila Levison

Controller

Sheila has an extensive background as an accountant, auditor, CPA and controller for a broad range of companies. With over 20 years of experience in the field, she provides expert level accounting services specifically tailored to the individual client’s needs. Sheila helps businesses streamline and run more efficiently by being the gatekeeper for all business activities. She has negotiated with the IRS, handled EDD audits, hired and worked with attorneys and handled public and private audits from beginning to end. Sheila has provided accounting services for a variety of companies ranging from KPMG, independent auditing, Frontier Airlines, marketing/manufacturing, real estate and various fitness companies.

Sheila is a CPA and has a Bachelor of Science degree from UCLA with a focus in the areas of mathematics and applied science (emphasis in operations research). Her specializations also include computer science and business administration.

Michael Russell

Fractional CFO

Michael A. Russell, “Mike,” has over twenty-five years of experience as a CFO – principally with rapidly growing, technology-based, manufacturing and software companies. He has been associated with both private and public companies, gaining experience in nearly every role in a financial department. These responsibilities have included functions in accounting, credit, and collections, treasury, financial planning and budgeting, information systems and human resources over the course of his career.

Mike’s record of equity financing speaks for itself, having participated in rasing over $70 million. As a consultant and advisor to emerging companies, he has significant experience in the development of financial strategy and direction, monitoring and explaining performance versus the agreed-to plan. As a CFO for companies in the startup phase, Mike is able to span the requirements of a financial management position from day-to-day detail to assessing the overall view of the strategic direction of the organization. he has developed and maintained relationships with bankers, investors and shareholders.

Mike attended UCLA, where he received a BSEE and MBA in Finance.

Tyler
Jensen

Founder & CEO

Tyler is a serial entrepreneur, startup coach, early stage PT CFO and trusted advisor to numerous founders. He is passionate about helping entrepreneurs start companies that matter. Tyler has helped launch over 200 companies, non-profits and social enterprises.
The first company he started and sold is VAVi Sport & Social Club which grew to over 25,000 members in six years, and was recognized as San Diego’s 30th & 32nd fastest growing private company in 2006-2007 by the San Diego Business Journal and sold for over 25 times the capital investment.

Prior to launching VAVi, Tyler served as the Deputy Campaign Manager for Tim Kane for Congress, where he crafted and managed all aspects of launching and managing a United States Congressional Campaign. He was responsible for the fundraising plan creation & execution, staff volunteer recruitment & management, as well as marketing plan design & implementation. The design and production of campaign promotional materials and other creative marketing initiatives led to substantially increased name recognition and voter support.

Tyler has served as a trusted advisor on numerous Non-Profit and Corporate Board of Directors. He was born in Virginia and spends his free time stand up paddle boarding and building furniture.

Mario
Domogma

DOMAGMA

Mario is a Business Analyst for The Startup Garage. In addition to his educational background, Mario is also passionate in sustainable energy and renewable transportation, noted by his experience working with Tesla Motors. He brings an entrepreneurial bend to his work and a unique perspective to his clients that is tailored to their market.

Favorite quote: “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” – Abraham Lincoln

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The Startup Garage

Beginner’s Guide to Raising Capital

Business Plan Basics

Guide to Raising Capital from FFF

Guide to Raising Capital from Angel Investors

4e – Crowdfunding 101

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Please send me the following ebooks via email.

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Business Plan Basics

Guide to Raising Capital from FFF

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Crowdfunding 101

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Our Work

Augen Optics

The TSG team put together an investor deck and prepared Augen Optics to pitch to a strategic partner. We coached them in generating their pitch. Augen Optics is a spin-off company of the original Augen. We helped them explore whether the opportunity was the right direction for their overall growth.

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We believe entrepreneurs are changing the world. Our team is dedicated to supporting you with the resources for success.

Danielle Greenhouse

Community Development Manager

Danielle Greenhouse is the Operations Manager at The Startup Garage. Prior to joining the TSG team, Danielle worked in the financial services industry with a focus on Operations, Community/Business Development and Meeting & Event Planning. Earlier in her career Danielle worked as a trader and Relationship Manager at Fidelity Investments and she also gained administrative and operational experience working in the Hedge Fund industry. Additional experience includes a background in Early Childhood Development.

Danielle now lives in the San Diego, CA area with her husband of 14 years and her two daughters. She is a graduate of the University of Connecticut and enjoys spending time outdoors with her family and 13-year-old Boston Terrier Roxy. Other hobbies include recently learning to ski, attending regular fitness classes and baking.

Danielle also serves as a Parent Volunteer for the North County Consortium for Special Education (NCCSE). NCCSE is a Special Education Local Planning Area (SELPA) whose goal is to ensure that every eligible child receives appropriate special education services within their school district.

Mark Meyerdirk

Managing Partner

Early in his career Mark built his own business with over 120 employees; he has also operated a franchise company with 300 offices and 3,000 sales agents. Mark works with venture funds, private equity funds and commercial real estate developers. He serves on numerous boards of directors, has started up dozens of new companies, has worked with investment banks as a FINRA registered representative and has traveled to and worked with companies all over world on complex business projects.

Mark operates his consulting company, Meyerdirk Consulting Group, Inc., which specializes in capital formation strategies for emerging companies, franchising and is the co-founder of the Alternative Investment Forum designed to connect high net worth investors, family offices and private equity firms with early stage companies.
Mark lives in the Kansas City area with his wife of 41 years and has 4 children and 5 grandchildren. He is a graduate of the University of Colorado – Boulder and Washburn University School of Law.

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Lauren
Diaz

PRESIDENT

Lauren M. Diaz, CPA, is the President at The Startup Garage, joining the team in 2016.

Lauren worked as a Director of Finance for CSX, a Fortune 250 Transportation Company, based in Jacksonville, FL. During her six-year career at CSX, Lauren held multiple Finance and Marketing roles, gaining valuable experience in financial modeling, pricing analytics, market valuation and capital strategy. Prior to CSX, Lauren spent two years at a Public Accounting firm in Miami, FL.

Lauren is a passionate cyclist and triathlete and is the CFO and Director of Sponsor Strategy for DelaFina Racing, a not-for-profit women’s cycling team and club. DelaFina Racing seeks to empower women and build confidence through the sport of cycling.

Lacie Ward

Community Operations Manager

Lacie Ward is the Community Operations Manager at The Startup Garage. Prior to joining the TSG team, Lacie worked in the Brand Development industry with a focus on Public Relations, Community/Business Development and Social Media Management. Lacie attended California State University San Marcos where she studied Communications with an emphasis in Mass Media and was involved with the Peer Mentorship Program, Greek Life and was an Orientation Team leader.

Lacie was born and raised in San Diego, CA and doesn’t plan on leaving anytime soon. She enjoys spending time outdoors and is an animal rights activist. Other hobbies include cooking, gardening and spending time at the beach.
Lacie also serves as a volunteer for Kitchens For Good. Kitchens for Good aims to break the cycles of food waste, poverty and hunger through innovative programs in workforce training, healthy food production, and social enterprise.

Victoria Lakers

Fractional CFO

Victoria possesses over fifteen years of experience in finance, capital raising, marketing and sales, and operations development, including experience at a top 10 global private equity firm and in founding and selling her own company. She has participated in raising over $2.5 billion for various alternative investments.

Learn More About High-Performance Startup Financial Services.

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